Melodifestivalen 2026

Melodifestivalen 2026 is the 66th edition of the Swedish music competition Melodifestivalen, organised by Sveriges Television (SVT) and is taking place during a six-week period between 31 January and 7 March 2026, hosted by Gina Dirawi and Hampus Nessvold. The winner will represent Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 2026, to be held in Vienna, Austria.

Format

Melodifestivalen 2026 will feature six weekly shows held in six Swedish cities (Linköping, Gothenburg, Kristianstad, Malmö, Sundsvall and Stockholm). Gina Dirawi and Hampus Nessvold were announced as the hosts of the competition on 19 December 2025.

A total of 30 entries will take part in the competition across five heats. Each heat consists of six songs, with the top two songs directly qualifying for the final. In each heat, the first finalist is determined based on the number of public votes received in the first round, while the second round decides the second finalist and the remaining placings through a points-based system of age groups that has been in place since 2019, with a Radiohjälpen voting group replacing the former telephone group as all televoting proceeds would now be donated to the charity; the full breakdown of the results is presented on-screen, as was the case between 2022 and 2024. The remaining artist with the highest total number of votes across both rounds then advances to a final qualification round (rather than the third-placed entry as in the previous edition). The top two songs in the final qualification then progress to the final, which will comprise 12 songs. The winner of the final will be determined by a 50/50 combination of votes from the public and an international jury.